Illustrated Astrophysics

An Illustrated Guide To Mouth Gestures

François Caradec | MIT Press Reader | 29th May 2023

Excerpt from Caradec's Dictionary of Gestures, focusing on the mouth. For instance, "to thrust one’s thumb into the mouth, inflate the cheeks, and blow" in the Netherlands signifies indifference, and "to blow the smoke from a cigarette in the direction of a person whom one desires" is, in the Middle East, an act of flirtation. The illustrations by Philippe Cousin are worth seeing (2,112 words)

Astrophysics And Stale Beer

John Messick | Salon | 29th May 2023

Life at the South Pole is weird. A platoon of seasonal support workers makes the research station there run smoothly. People with romantic ideas about ice and isolation come to shovel snow in exchange for a bunk at the bottom of the world. "I met architects who had quit high-paying jobs to load cargo, Scuba instructors hired to clean toilets, and a poet who drove a forklift" (3,802 words)